As Manchester City’s players posed for pictures, Pep Guardiola briefly stood alone. Hands on hips, a third Champions League medal around his neck, the Catalan seemed dazed by what had happened.
What must have been going through his mind after the exorcising of more than a decade of demons? Perhaps it was a pointed decision for this moment to be about the players but it was still hard not to be drawn towards the man in a black suit who has reshaped the sport - albeit with the help of unlimited resources - as he stood there, mildly detached from the wild celebrations.
There is an increasing tendency, influenced by American sports, for the owners to take centre stage during these celebrations.
But there was unsurprisingly no sign of Sheikh Mansour, who sat in the stands to watch the team he has spent close to £2bn on in 15 years for just the second time ever. He was likely snuck out of there when nobody was watching, beating the endless Istanbul traffic.
The initial post-trophy lift celebrations had been contained within the pitch for several minutes before Ilkay Gundogan decided to leap over an advertising board and charge towards the City fans.
His team-mates followed instantly, every move tracked by a gaggle of photographers tripping over themselves to get the right shot.
That first wave of madness over, the players’ families were allowed to make their way on to the pitch to join in.
Guardiola was seen in tears, having won the Champions League for the first time in over a decade, and shared the moment with his wife Cristina and their children. "I think it was written in the stars this season that it belonged to us and we did it," he said.
Jack Grealish was joined on the pitch by partner Sasha Atwood, while Erling Haaland was spotted with his father, ex-City star Alfie Haaland and Gry Marita Braut, as well as girlfriend Isabel Johansen.
As they all took a moment to pose with the trophy near the south west corner of the Ataturk, on the stage where they had lifted it a few minutes earlier, Kyle Walker broke off with four children and got a staff member to take their picture.
Walker, who started on the bench for the showpiece final, revealed that he held an emotional pre-match meeting with his team-mates - urging them to not pass up another chance at glory.
“Obviously I’m always going to be disappointed when I’m not playing but I have to make sure I’m setting my example to the younger lads,” he explained.
“I made a speech before they went out, I was true to my word. I was emotional but this club means so much to me. I’ve been here six years now, to give me what it’s given me and to experience what I’ve experienced in football, I’ll forever be in debt with it.”
Asked what his speech included, Walker told BT Sport: “It was ‘my dream is in your hands.’ It was as simple as that. No pressure, but you can’t say that Inter Milan deserved it more than we did or we deserved it more than Inter Milan did. We’re both here by merit, commiserations to them but there has to be a loser.
Another half dozen children, all dressed in sky blue kits, ran around manically with a ball as the fans slowly began to make the long and arduous journey back to town.
It took some of them more than three hours to reach the Ataturk Stadium from central Istanbul because of suboptimal infrastructure.
Those painful journeys will have suddenly become forgotten or worthwhile as their team got over the line.
The emotions were too much for some players. Jack Grealish struggled to fight back the tears as he gave a TV interview in which he said that he had played crap but this was the culmination of what he had wanted his entire life.
Erling Haaland, who did not leave much of an impact on this final, stood with a Norway flag draped across back, taking it all in. He had wept a little earlier, crouched down and staring into space in a moment of disbelief.
The clock ticked well past 1am by the time they started heading towards the tunnel where the party continued in more private settings and the booze began to flow.
Unsurprisingly, Grealish was in the centre of things as the party ramped up in the confines of the dressing room. Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac has become one of the anthems of this memorable season and that was the tune pumping out as players, many of them multi-million pound signings reflected on what they had just achieved.
The former Aston Villa talisman was spotted making his way through mixed zone, but rather than the emotional figure he had cut hours previous, he was now firmly in celebration mode. Haaland posted a picture alongside his close friend, a partnership which has played a key role in City achieving a feat only one English side in history have ever matched.
"I think in a couple of days when this settles, this feeling of winning this trophy, I will want to do it again for sure. I know myself that much that I’m quite sure," Haaland said in the moments after full time.
But rather than immediately get back on the bike, a player that has appeared almost robot-like in his first Premier League season let his hair down (literally), and posted an image of him smoking a cigar to celebrate.
The parade is scheduled for Monday night, where City players will be able to truly reflect on their on-field achievements and likely continue a party that will make its way across the continent in the hours to come.
Guardiola bemoaned the fact that his history makers will have to report for international duty in a matter of weeks. Kyle Walker pre-empted an apology to England boss Gareth Southgate, before telling reporters: "Put any drink in front of me - Gareth [Southgate] I'm sorry. Put any drink in front of me, I'm gonna destroy it!"
It was, in spite of all the justifiable questions around the finances that have brought this relentless winning machine to life, a pure and wholesome scene. And for almost all of these players the night of their lives.
